Nature’s Fuel to seek another location

An Indiana-based company that planned to set up shop at the former Rexam facility in Constantine is shopping for a new location.

By Jef RietsmaJournal Correspondent

An Indiana-based company that planned to set up shop at the former Rexam facility in Constantine is shopping for a new location.

Glenn Johnson, chief operating officer of Nature’s Fuel, said as much as he had hoped the Rexam site would have worked, some issues that added unanticipated expenses ultimately doomed the plan.

Specifically, two matters arose that ultimately became deal-breakers.

“The Phase 2 environmental study indicated some issues in one area where they apparently used oil,” Johnson said. “We did some drilling to determine how deep the oil was and it turned into a situation where the seller didn’t want to remediate.”

The second issue centered on electrical wiring in the north half of the 238,000-square-foot building. Johnson said the north end is between 30 and 40 years old, while an extension at the south end is about a decade old. He said further engineering studies showed essentially all the electrical wiring would have to be removed from the older section of the building.

“The electrical wiring would not have been up to the code we would be held to,” Johnson said.

Though it wasn’t as detrimental as the other two issues, an interior building height of approximately 30 feet was about 10 feet lower than what Nature’s Fuel would have preferred, Johnson added.

One other factor that helped make the decision to build new instead of revamp the Rexam site was proximity to residential area.

Although the Rexam plant is in an industrial park and Nature’s Fuel would have qualified for the type of zoning allowed in the area, Johnson said he still wasn’t completely comfortable with its proximity to residentially zoned areas.

“I think it’s critical to say we love the people in Constantine, the village was great to us and we love the area,” Johnson said. “We’d just prefer to be on a large site without neighbors.”

Constantine village manager Mark Honeysett said he had occasion to speak to Johnson in late February and was made aware of Nature’s Fuel intentions to seek land and build new elsewhere in St. Joseph County.

He said as much as he would have loved to fill the void left by Rexam’s departure, he understands the business world sometimes operates in unexpected ways.

“I still hope Constantine can give them what they need, but I’m not as optimistic as I once was that it will work out,” Honeysett said. “If Nature’s Fuel happens and it’s not in Constantine, its presence in St. Joseph County will still have a positive influence with the number of jobs it could be offering and presumably some of those job will be filled by Constantine residents.”

Nature’s Fuel uses a patented, comprehensive process that involves low-temperatures and a non-combustion procedure called pyrolysis to produce bio-oil from ground-up wood scrap and other waste. The oil is sold to customers such as Detroit Edison, which in turn burns it to make electricity. The oil is also sold to refineries to make green gasoline and diesel fuel.

Nature’s Fuel CEO Bill Sinish last year said a minimum of 130 employees would be on the company’s payroll initially with wages starting at $16 an hour.

Johnson said he wasn’t at liberty to disclose the areas where Nature’s Fuel is looking, though he said anyone who was willing to drive to Constantine for work at the Rexam site will not have much further to drive if the company eventually secures land in any of the several areas it is currently scouting.

He said he’s hopeful land will be secured by the end of June. Johnson said the plan at Rexam falling apart is a setback to Nature’s Fuel timeframe, but he said the delay was inevitable after recognizing the scope of additional expenses the Rexam site would have warranted.

“There’s a heck of a workforce available in St. Joseph County and we look forward to tapping into that,” Johnson said. “In the meantime, since this process started a few years ago, Michigan has done some things that make it a more attractive place to do business … right-to-work was a positive that shows the state is trying to attract business.”

Johnson said financing for the new plant remains in place. Johnson and other Nature’s Fuel officials last September staged a press conference at the Rexam site to announce the company secured nearly $200 million in funding for the purchase of the Rexam building and necessary machinery.

Jobs will be posted as they become available. Sinish advised prospective employees to not call him or Johnson directly to inquire about work.

He said a third party screens applicants and forwards résumés to the company’s human resources staff.

Constantine village officials in December 2011 approved a 12-year, 50 percent tax abatement on what would have been about $55 million worth of equipment.